


cloverstack interchange

by Catory



Category: Kamen Rider Drive
Genre: Alternate Universe - Role Reversal, Episode 1 Rewrite, Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-01-04
Updated: 2018-01-04
Packaged: 2019-02-28 02:39:37
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,047
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13261887
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Catory/pseuds/Catory
Summary: kiriko's sick to death of being scared. and she's going to do something about that.





	cloverstack interchange

**Author's Note:**

> Disclaimer: I've watched less than 20 episodes of Drive and... I'm getting the feeling I will never get a good explanation for why Kiriko cant be Drive so fuck it. She's Drive now, I do what I want. I wrote this in like two days with no proofreading lmao.

Kiriko goes over the hood of the Tridoron with a microfiber cloth again. These past few months, it's become a habit to come down here whenever she wants to think. Sometimes she thinks that it's a bit of a pity that she doesn't drive it more often... and then she looks at it and changes her mind again. It's a beautiful car, to be sure. But did the professor have to make it so flashy? It just stands out far too much for Kiriko's tastes. And all of its special features have been completely unnecessary so far. Most of the time, her patrol car does just fine for whatever day to day work she has.

Her hand stills.

She'll need to drive the Tridoron as Kamen Rider, though.

"Kiriko…" Krim looks at her, as best he can. The professor's not psychic, but they've been over this quite a few times before. "Don't worry, you'll get the hang of Type Speed. And I've asked Rinna to accelerate development of Type Technic— that's much more up your alley, and I'm certain that will help matters."

Kiriko rests her forehead on Tridoron as she sighs. "But that's not the real issue. I can transform just fine in a controlled situation, it's _combat_ that's the problem. If I can't handle unknown variables… what's going to happen if I have to face an evolved Roidmude? What if 010 shows up again and I freeze up? The Executors are still out there somewhere and eventually, we're going to run into a situation that the Shift Cars can't handle by themselves!" Massive Monster up on the loft beeps at her indignantly, and Kiriko hastily looks up and adds. "Ah, no offense, though."

"Just don't overthink it." Krim advises her. "You're strong, Kiriko. I know that you'll make a fine Kamen Rider Drive." His face flashes into a smile.

Kiriko doesn't smile back. If only she could believe that herself.

She checks her phone. Dang it, lunch was already over? She needed to head back up to the office, and she bids a quick goodbye to all the inhabitants of the Drive Pit.

Kiriko pauses at the top of the stairs. "Next time." She promises herself. "Next time, I'll definitely…!"

* * *

"Ah! Just the person I wanted to see, Kiriko!" The chief calls out to her as soon as she enters the office, which can only mean one thing.

"Tomari's run off again." Because of course he has.

"Now, I know that he does this aaaaaall the time, but we really do need him back for this announcement. Hahaha, we're a small enough department that even missing one member is a bit of a problem, isn't it?"

"I got it, Captain." She says. "I know where he most likely is."

* * *

On her way to the park where she just _knows_ he's slacking off, Kiriko sighs and taps her fingers on the steering wheel. Tomari Shinnosuke. Her current partner. She's seen his records, and they were pretty impressive, honestly. He was a good detective. A little quick to make leaps of logic and jump to conclusions , maybe, but it had usually worked out in his favor.

Well, that was before he'd been assigned to Special Crimes. Before the Global Freeze, and before his previous partner had...

On one level, Kiriko understood the feeling of being stuck and left scrambling to adjust after everything that had happened. After that Roidmude had attacked her during the Freeze, and after she'd been saved, she'd spent a week or so in a complete daze. She'd been so sure that she was going to die, right up until that masked man had saved her. And even afterwards, it had still felt like her knees were locked in terror, keeping her from moving forwards.

She'd snapped out of it eventually though. Or rather, she was still in the process of clawing her way out of her own fear. Knowing that there were things that she could do helped, a little bit. And someday, she'd be able to face down the Roidmudes fearlessly. That was her goal.

Tomari, though…

Tomari doesn't even seem to _want_ to get back into gear. It's frustrating, to say the least.

Kiriko parks the car and hops out. She can already see him lazing about on the grass, like she'd thought. Kiriko pulls out her handcuffs. Fine then. She knew how to deal with him by this point.

* * *

The other investigators at the scene are whispering about the Special Crimes Unit, but Kiriko tries to tune them out the best she can. Rinna's devices are reliable, as long as you were able to get past their design. Even so, it was frustrating to know that people didn't take them seriously. Sure, Kiriko had only made detective two months ago, give or take, but she'd worked _hard_ for this position. Getting assigned to Special Crimes had sounded like a good way to keep track of Slowdowns and Roidmudes at the time, but Kiriko hadn't anticipated the sheer condescension of the "real" investigators. It chafed. Kiriko hadn't worked herself to the bone these past few months just to be laughed at.

Rinna's Density Shift particle detector beeps, snapping her out of her thoughts.

"We're actually getting a reaction?" Kiriko says out loud. "Then that means—"

"Kiriko! Be careful, he's still nearby!" Krim says through Shift Speed on her belt. Her eyes widen, but it's too late—

den

si

ty

shift

hits

—and Kiriko stumbles. She looks up.

A Roidmude casually strolls down the stairs, transforming on the way down. 029, not evolved yet.

She can take him. Kiriko's heart beats a staccato pattern.

029 grabs Tomari by the neck.

She can take him. Her breathing's getting faster.

It lifts him up into the air.

Kiriko, just do it!

"Shift Cars!" She finally yells out. Max Flare, Funky Spike, and Midnight Shadow assemble and chase the Roidmude away in less than a minute. It doesn't feel like a victory.

Kiriko turns away and clenches her hands so tightly that she might have broken skin, if she hadn't been wearing gloves.

(Kiriko doesn't notice, but Tomari's looking right at the Shift Cars. He gets up and walks over to Max Flare, picking him up. "These things can move normally during Slowdown, just like that monster… huh." He mutters to himself. Tomari drops Flare into his pocket, and he absently tightens his tie.)

* * *

Rinna and the captain are bickering with Lieutenant Otta about whether or not Slowdown actually exists, but Kiriko can't bring herself to join in.

She'd promised herself that the next time a Roidmude showed up, she would transform. Of course, she had reasons for not doing so— she'd forgotten to bring the Driver with her, it was faster to call the Shift Cars, she shouldn't transform in front of so many witnesses—

Oh, who was she kidding? She was still _afraid_. The perfect opportunity had dropped itself right in her lap but she still hadn't taken it because she was afraid. Kiriko flips the page of her notebook so hard the page rips a little. Maybe she was still just as stuck in the past as Tomari was. Damn it!

As if summoned by her thoughts, Tomari marches purposefully into the room. "I know who our suspect is." He announces.

Wait, since when?

Kiriko's only ever seen Tomari this focused once or twice before, and she can't help but get caught up in his pace, just like the rest of the Special Crime Unit. He leaves just as quickly as he comes, in an uncharacteristic whirlwind of energy. He doesn't even leave them a copy of the photo composite, so none of them can actually follow him.

Which… is a big problem. If Tomari actually manages to track down the Roidmude, he's still not going to have a way to fight or even move during Slowdown. If anything, he just might be the Roidmude's next victim.

That's unacceptable.

That's _completely_ unacceptable.

Kiriko needs to catch up to Tomari, and fast. She looks over at Rinna, who flicks her gaze over to the door and makes a half-concealed shooing motion. _Go._

Kiriko slides out the door and makes a mad dash for the Drive Pit. She takes the steps down to two at a time.

"Krim!" She yells out before she even crosses the threshold. "The Roidmude from today— track it down, Tomari can't fight it— need to get there before he does—"

"Kiriko?" Krim sounds surprised. "Wait, slow down for a second, what's about the Roidmude from earlier today?"

Kiriko takes a second to catch her breath. "My partner— you know, Tomari— he's got a lead on the person the Roidmude copied, and he's in danger! We need to find him before he finds the Roidmude!"

Krim hums thoughtfully. "I see. We'll need the Shift Cars to— what's that?" Midnight Shadow interrupts him. "He did?"

_Vrrrrr._

"Then is Flare still with him?"

 _Vrrrwrwr_.

"Well, that's rather fortuitous. I can track down Max Flare simply enough, and he should provide some modicum of protection if they find trouble. Nevertheless, let's not waste any more time!"

Kiriko grabs Krim off of his stand. "The patrol car might not be fast enough." She says before she can think about it. "I'm taking the Tridoron."

* * *

Slowdown hits just as Kiriko turns the corner, and she grits her teeth and steps down harder on the gas.

"They should be somewhere around this area!" Krim says. "Do you see them?"

"No, not y— there they are!" Kiriko makes a sharp turn onto the park walkway. Tomari's caught mid-step in Slowdown, with three (three!?) Roidmude standing just beyond him. The two that aren't preoccupied raise their hands and there's no time to think anymore, so—

Kiriko doesn't. She swings the Tridoron between Tomari and the Roidmudes and wrenches open the door, grabbing Krim on the way.

Normal bullets don't really hurt the Roidmudes, but the Tridoron's artillery is all forwards mounted, and some cover fire is better than nothing at all. She takes a few shots as she leaps backwards over the hood of the car. Tomari is staring at her in utter confusion.

"Kiriko? Wait, is this _your_ car?" Tomari runs his hand over the Tridoron's side in appreciation and Kiriko whacks his shoulder. "Ow!"

"Tomari, focus! We can talk about the car later!"

The Roidmudes shoot at the two of them again, and they duck behind the Tridoron for cover. "Right, monster things, trying to kill us. What are those, anyways?"

"Roidmudes." Krim answers before Kiriko can. "Simply put, they're the ones behind Slowdown."

"…Kiriko, your belt just talked."

"How rude. Don't just call me a belt." Krim chides.

"Wh— okay, fine. Mr. Belt it is. Do either of you know how to stop them? Got any more of those little car things from earlier?"

Three Roidmudes. The Shift Cars aren't going to be enough. She hesitates for too long.

"Kiriko…" Tomari's looking at her like he expects her to have all the answers, and he grabs her by the shoulder. "I don't know what's going on here, and I can't do _anything_ here, but please! If you have the power to save that man, I'm begging you!"

The power to save that man?

She stands up. The jogger that 029 had attacked is on the ground, but he's not fully gone yet. He's pretty far away, but he's clearly scared, and in pain, and that makes something click in Kiriko's mind. As Proto Drive's successor, she's not fighting for her own sake. She's fighting to protect the people from the threat of the Roidmudes— all the people who couldn't defend themselves.

Just like Kiriko used to be.

Without a word, Kiriko reaches down and activates the Driver. Shift Speed carries the Shift Bracer to her, and she catches both without taking her eyes of the Roidmudes.

"Transform!"

As the armor of Drive settles around her, one of the Roidmude points at her rudely. "And just what the hell are you supposed to be?"

Kiriko flexes her hand and clenches it into a fist. She's still a little nervous, but even more than that… she doesn't want anyone else to be scared anymore. "…I'm Kamen Rider Drive." She declares. "And you're coming along for this ride!"

 

**Author's Note:**

> (mildly cheesed mumbling) characterwise, it could have been cool if they gave the lady who'd been attacked by the roidmudes the main role so that she could get over her own fear and protect others from feeling the same as she did back then, while giving the dude who fucked up a support role that could lead to him redeveloping self-confidence and learning to trust himself again, eventually culminating in him joining the fight by main lady's side in a suit of his own but noooooooooo  
> i mean im still charmed. i love kamen rider a lot A LOT but _lady main rider!!!_


End file.
